Well, yes, point proven that I DO ramble on at times. You would never know from some of my posts that I am not only a fan of ALL written information, but especially a fan of the "short story". There is a certain unique talent to the literary "short story". Getting the point across and complete in a shorter version takes an understanding of structure and phrasing that can be overlooked in a longer "novel" form. Drawing the story out to the eventual "punch line" ending can create that "I couldn't put it down" excitement of a well written novel but even our most famous novelists have acknowledged the special thrill involved in the short story format.
Ernest Hemingway---certainly one of the most highly acclaimed novelists of the past century---and not exactly known for the "shortness" of his story's, was, as legend has it, once challenged to write as short a story as possible. He wrote: "For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn."
Perfect!
The short story forces the reader to use their own mind to help create the story. I had read somewhere recently of a college literary class that had been studying the plot lines and structure of recent books like Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code". Dan Brown's writing style takes three or four points of interest and wraps them all up in a single story structure. History, religion, mystery, art, secret societies and maybe even an attractive woman all get mixed together and drawn out through his LONG, but very entertaining, novels. This college class was challenged by the professor to write a short story using as few as possible of the basic fundamental subjects. Though many stories were submitted, chosen as the best using Religion, Sex, Royalty and Mystery was: "Oh God, I'm pregnant!" said the Queen, " I wonder who did it?"
I used to joke years ago that I could write a short story, modern version of the standard "Fairy Tale": "Once upon a time, a long time ago, they lived happily ever after."
And with that, I'll cut this short.....................
A "Simple Solution" included in Today's quote:
"Speak little. Do Much" Ben Franklin
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